university of illinois at chicago

uic is the largest university in the chicago area, with 25,000 students, 15 colleges, and the nation's largest medical school.  the UIC community encompasses more than 100 buildings located on somewhere around 240 acres and lends the "university village" neighborhood of chicago its name.

undergraduates tend to be on the east side of the neighborhood.  medical students tend to be on the west side.  in the past decade, thousands of new construction townhouses, mid-rises, and single family homes have appeared around campus, and warehouses and industrial plants have been rehabbed into stunning residential lofts.  the frenzied pace of development has brought droves of new residents to the village and created a hot new district for chicago’s youngest buyers and renters.  south halsted street, an historic section of chicago which had all but deteriorated, is now a thriving retail strip, replete with restaurants, coffee shops, delicatessens, grocers, and hip boutiques.

university village includes “little italy,” which is still something of a little italy today, particularly from the gastronomic perspective.  the housing stock is obviously much older, with rows of century-old graystones that have since been converted into two and three flats, as well as courtyard buildings, and a few modern single-family homes.  many uic professors and their peers from the adjacent rush-presbyterian / st. luke’s medical center live in this area.

the blue line of the el traces the northern border of the university village neighborhood, and the dan ryan and eisenhower expressways circumscribe the northern and eastern boundaries.